INTEGRATED HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN July 2012 – June 2017 2013/14 REVIEW
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INTEGRATED HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN July 2012 – June 2017 2013/14 REVIEW THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN’S VISION & MISSION The vision and mission of the City of Cape Town is threefold: • To be an opportunity city that creates an enabling environment for economic growth and job creation • To deliver quality services to all residents • To serve the citizens of Cape Town as a well-governed and corruption-free administration The City of Cape Town pursues a multi-pronged vision to: • be a prosperous city that creates an enabling and inclusive environment for shared economic growth and development; • achieve effective and equitable service delivery; and • serve the citizens of Cape Town as a well-governed and effectively run administration. In striving to achieve this vision, the City’s mission is to: • contribute actively to the development of its environmental, human and social capital; • offer high-quality services to all who live in, do business in, or visit Cape Town as tourists; and • be known for its efficient, effective and caring government. Spearheading this resolve is a focus on infrastructure investment and maintenance to provide a sustainable drive for economic growth and development, greater economic freedom, and increased opportunities for investment and job creation. To achieve its vision, the City of Cape Town will build on the strategic focus areas it has identified as the cornerstones of a successful and thriving city, and which form the foundation of its Five-year Integrated Development Plan. The vision is built on five key pillars: THE OPPORTUNITY CITY Pillar 1: Ensure that Cape Town continues to grow as an opportunity city THE SAFE CITY Pillar 2: Make Cape Town an increasingly safe city THE CARING CITY Pillar 3: Make Cape Town even more of a caring city THE INCLUSIVE CITY Pillar 4: Ensure that Cape Town is an inclusive city THE WELL-RUN CITY Pillar 5: Make sure Cape Town continues to be a well-run city These five focus areas inform all the City’s plans and policies. Front cover: The opportunity to reblock a portion of BM section informal settlement in Khayelitsha came about as a result of a fire. CITY OF CAPE TOWN / INTEGRATED HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FIVE-YEAR strategic PLAN 2013/14 REVIEW About the Integrated Human Settlements Five-Year Strategic Plan The aim of this Integrated Human Settlements Five-Year Strategic Plan review is to offer the reader a clear view of the challenges and opportunities facing the City of Cape Town in terms of providing for the housing needs of Cape Town’s steadily growing and increasingly urbanised population. This plan is closely aligned with, and contributes to, the City of Cape Town’s overarching Five Year Integrated Development Plan, and it has been developed with a view towards enabling the realisation of the City’s five key strategic pillars or focus areas. Just as the Human Settlements Directorate does not operate in isolation from the rest of the City of Cape Town, this plan should be read in the context of the greater vision and objectives of the current administration. As such, it forms one component of a suite of plans, publications and reports produced by the City annually, inter alia: Integrated Development Plan – 2013/14 Review Budget 2012/13 – 2014/15 Integrated Human Settlements Five-Year Strategic Plan – 2013/14 Review Integrated Transport Plan 2013 Traffic Accident Report 2013 Annual Report 2012/13 Each of these publications offers comprehensive information and data covering the components of the City’s five strategic pillars that are relevant to its readers or to the stakeholders of the directorate that produced it. While this means that each publication can be read independently of the others, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the City’s planning, performance and budgeting structures, the suite of books should preferably be considered in its entirety. CITY OF CAPE TOWN / INTEGRATED HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FIVE-YEAR strategic PLAN 2013/14 REVIEW 1 FOREWORD happy neighbourhoods inhabited by people who have the opportunities they deserve to live their best lives and achieve their full potential. Delivery on this ambitious objective requires that the City of Cape Town has a full understanding of the existing living conditions of all its people as well as clear insights into the challenges they face. In considering its approximate 30% population growth, the City needs to carefully balance its application of resources to fund bulk infrastructure provision, respond to increased densification, and better harness the full potential of underutilised land and bulk capacities. To ensure optimum access to and use of funding, increased emphasis must also be placed on building effective inter- City and inter-governmental relations and partnerships, as well as closer, more collaborative partnerships with NGOs and the private sector business. Whilst it is recognised that a magic wand cannot be waved to satiate all the needs immediately, a logical plan of action is required. The legendary physicist, Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. The City of Cape Town recognises that it cannot take the same approach to housing that has been followed in the past and expect What is needed is an to meet the changing needs of a dynamic and evolving population. What is needed is an innovative approach that innovative approach holistically addresses the city’s housing needs in a way that that holistically maximises opportunities for its people. We believe that the review of this Integrated Human addresses Cape Town’s Settlements Five-Year Strategic Plan outlines such an approach and offers a route map for the City to realise its housing needs in a vision to deliver integrated human settlements that enable meaningful lives, build community spirit and unity, and way that maximises empower all Capetonians to meet their economic and opportunities for social needs. Whist we acknowledge that the Five-Year Plan is a medium- its people. term plan, we need to look at the immediate challenges and implement programs such as a high density strategy, upgrading of informal settlements, provision of basic services to backyarders in order to restore their dignity, FOREWORD BY THE MAYORAL COMMITTEE and other immediate mechanisms to ensure that our MEMBER FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS communities live with dignity. In order for the City to achieve its vision of delivering truly integrated human settlements, rather than merely building houses, the City of Cape Town has adopted a strategic approach that recognises the importance of creating housing opportunities that fully integrate delivery of, and TANDEKA GQADA access to services, healthcare, education and employment opportunities. The ultimate goal is safe, secure and Mayoral Committee member for Human Settlements 2 CITY OF CAPE TOWN / INTEGRATED HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FIVE-YEAR strategic PLAN 2013/14 REVIEW FOREWORD economic nodes and along key transport corridors, so that people do not only benefit from having homes, but also from having essential access to the employment, education, health-care and social opportunities they need to enhance their lives. In delivering such integrated and holistic lifestyle solutions, we are acutely aware of the challenges we face, particularly those created by urbanisation, which is caused by the city’s steadily growing population and net migration into Cape Town. While these challenges serve as evidence of Cape Town’s success in positioning itself as an opportunity city, the way in which we respond to them must also demonstrate that we are indeed also a caring, safe and inclusive city – and the way we house our growing population is central to that response. Succeeding in overcoming these challenges requires an innovative and sustainable approach, and the Human Settlements Directorate has made it a top priority to incorporate precisely such an approach into its strategies and operations. Already, the positive results of this commitment are becoming increasingly evident through the delivery of a number of successful developments and initiatives. FOREWORD BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Of course, innovation alone will not get the City very far. HUMAN SETTLEMENTS Innovation has to be accompanied and underpinned by a The Human Settlements Directorate of the City of Cape clear commitment to working together with all of Cape Town is not in the business of building houses; it is in the Town’s many stakeholders to ensure that we all share a business of building lives and futures. Over the years, the unified vision, work towards the same goals, and enjoy the vision of the Directorate has evolved from being focused benefits of our labours. To this end, the Human Settlements primarily on providing adequate shelter for the people of Directorate recognises the immense power that exists in Cape Town, to a far more holistic and comprehensive view effective partnerships. We know that we can never achieve of the potential that truly integrated housing provision has the ambitious vision and goals that we have set for ourselves to add value to people’s lives, improve their quality of life, on our own. Our success ultimately depends on our ability and offer them opportunities to achieve their dreams and and willingness to enlist the assistance of others who share aspirations. our vision and passion for a better future for all in Cape Town. As such, we have forged many mutually beneficial Importantly, this transformed vision for the Directorate, relationships with our City of Cape Town colleagues, regional and the objectives and key performance indicators that and provincial government representatives and teams, underpin it, dovetail perfectly with the strategic pillars on private businesses, non-profit organisations and funding which the broader vision of the City of Cape Town is being agencies, and most importantly, with the communities we realised.